Recent content by Jibbian

I inherited one of these. I've actually never used it to dry soap, but I do use it to help dry my hand-washable clothes — it's great. I bet it would help speed up soap dry times too, and I think you can find them under $100.

I've had something very similar (though less pronounced) happen to several batches of soap. I don't have a solution or an answer, but here's a link to my post with a similar issue. The gentleman who responded thought it had to do with clay; I see you added clay too. So maybe that's the culprit?

I made my first batch of soap using a sturdy shoe box and freezer paper. It worked great!

Thank you! It's nice to use too, so I really have nothing to complain about. It's just so weird. I definitely got a full gel on this one, so I don't think it's that. Maybe it's just an EO thing! This was a new blend for me... :smallshrug: , indeed! Thanks for weighing in, regardless.

Hahaha. I added a picture to the original post! For some reason, it's hard to see when the soap is dry though. You can kind of tell when the light shines through it. Super weird!

Edit: Photo added... it's hard to see when the soap is dry though. I REALLY noticed it when I was using the soap in the shower—the inside had definitely morphed pink. I recently made a plain white soap with coconut milk powder and poppy seeds. It's been curing a couple of months, and I notice...

I definitely will!

I'm also struggling with this! I keep all of my non-oil ingredients organized in plastic bins from Ikea, which I store in a spare closet. I also added a small metro-style rack to that closet, which my soaping supplies share with towels and guest linens. It's far from perfect, but it gets the job...

Thank you for the recommendation! I'll give them a try. 😊

I wonder if any of y'all have experience with VineVida essential oils? Their prices seem very fair and geared for small crafters and small businesses, but I'm wondering about their quality and safety. It looks like they have an in-house lab that does their testing; is this typical or a red flag?

That would have never occurred to me! Thanks so much for the info. I don't usually soak the clay in the oils... so maybe that had something to do with it. 🤷‍♀️

This is kind of a tangential aside, but I've also noticed they seem to have gradually discontinued a lot of their specialty tools, additives, etc. in recent years. Does anyone else remember all the beautiful, specialized molds they used to carry?

I just made a tiny test batch, and my final bars have these little spots that look like glycerin or grease (they're slightly transparent), but they're totally dry. I don't see any lye pockets and the PH is between an 8 and 9 (I know this isn't foolproof, but I have litmus paper, so I test...

Congratulations! And hey, it's way better to pour at thick trace than under-emulsify... not that I would know anything about that 🙃

Thanks for the thorough explaination! I had no idea salt bars required a longer cure for nice lather. This, in part anyway, explains why my one batch of salt bars was such a failure. Maybe I'll give them another go.